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June 2020 Featured Client: The Anderson Family

6/25/2020

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I've been trying to think of new ways, big and small, to show appreciation for my many rockstar clients who have been with me from the beginning when I was shyly portfolio building... those who believed in me before I really believed in myself!

One thing I'll be doing is featuring one of my longtime clients in a their own blog post each month.

The Andersons were one of the first families who came to mind when I initially arrived at this idea.  I've known Kristina and Tony for FIFTEEN years, I first met Kristina in 2005 at the U of M when she encouraged me to try out for the Gopher Hockey cheer team. Being part of the team shaped my college years and my life!

​Years after college we still remained connected. When I first began portfolio building, she was one of the first people who reached out to me for photos and we've shot a huge variety of sessions together since then. 
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Even though we've known each other forever, I still asked Kristina to describe her family in her own words.

"We are a hardworking, silly, fun-loving family of 4 (6 if you include the pups). We are usually busy doing some sort of DIY/house project or outside working on the yard. We have a 1300 sq ft vegetable garden, so that takes up a good chunk of time too. We are a family focused on health and fitness (which also includes sporadic family dance parties - thanks to Alexa)." says Kristina

This first set of photos is from my most recent session with her family: Reece's First Bee Day celebration. It was smaller from previous parties I have attended at theAnderson house because of Covid, but still ever-so-sweet and thoughtfully planned with social distancing in mind but also plenty of charming bee décor and treats plus guests joining the party virtually.
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It was a bee-utiful day and it warmed my heart to be part of something joyful "normal" this summer.

Now I'm going to throw it back to the good ol' days before all of the six feet apart business to when I first started portfolio building with the Andersons.
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Addie was one of my very first baby and toddler models. She was so sweet and precious and still is. 
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(Addie's 3rd birthday party)
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(Addie's 4th birthday party)
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(And Addie's 5th birthday)

Over the years, I've been asked to attend and photograph Addie's (and most recently Reece's) birthdays! As you can see, Kristina is a party planning wizard and every celebration I've attended is such a pleasure to be a part of. It's like Pinterest, but way better since it's real. (My kids have even been able to attend some parties and they would whole-heartedly agree!). What's wonderful about these jobs is that it's such a win-win-win. This type of candid event documentation is probably my favorite type of photography plus if I'm taking care of the pictures, it frees up Kristina more to be present at the party.

"I'm always so busy running around hosting the event that I don't always get to SEE and enjoy everything that came together. You always do such an amazing job of capturing the day, the details that I spend so much time on, and the guests/friends/family. It allows me to go through the albums and EXPERIENCE the event as our friends and family did. I frequently go back to old birthday parties in my phone albums and just scroll through, looking at the party that took months to plan, looking at everyone's faces - it's so fun, I love it!"  says Kristina.
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The Andersons have also gotten in on the holiday mini sessions I began offering three years ago. It's at this point in the blog post that the question must be asked... What is her method of of styling everyone? How does one family manage to look so festive and incredibly put together?

​"I start like 2 months out because I don't want to spend an arm-and-a-leg, I look for good deals on Poshmark for Tony and myself, and for the kids, I usually buy from a handmade shop (on Instagram). To be honest, the whole family coordination is usually based on a dress that I first find for Addie - haha!
Once I find the token piece (whomever it ends up being for), I build the rest of the outfits around it/to compliment it." Kristina says.

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Kristina has also been able to attend some of my Mother's Day mini sessions as well which I'm so glad about. We mamas are almost always taking photos but are hardly ever in them! Plus, it's just dang difficult during the hustle of every day life to hand off your phone to someone else to take a picture of you and your kids! Her littles do so well with pictures so I asked what her secret/bribe/strategy is.

"I try to make sure to pick a time of day when the kids aren't whining/cranky (aka nap time), and we usually make the photo shoot a "fun thing" for the day -- we all get ready together in the morning and we usually plan something fun afterwards, like going out for dinner. These days it would probably be picking up some ice cream and heading home for a nice treat as a family. That makes it an anticipated and fun thing for the kids and hubby too! " she explains.
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One of the most special sessions I've ever shot in my life was Reece's Fresh 48 session in the summer of 2019. I suppose it could have been called a "Fresh 2" because he was only two hours old when Kristina and Tony had me come to the hospital. There is something so sacred and soul-soothing about being in the presence of a freshly born baby and his parents. I'll remember this session forever!
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Just a couple months later I attended and photographed Reece's baptism which was a sweet and special day! It was also a little nerve-wracking being in front of an entire congregation taking pictures, but I figured it out!
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Lastly, Kristina and I have done a few fitness photo shoots together and she was able to use the images for various marketing purposes.

​For as long as I've known Kristina, she has been incredibly passionate about health, fitness, and helping people. After many years of working as a coach for the U of M Spirit Squads, she's embarked on a new exciting path as a Beachbody coach! Give her Instagram a follow! She's warm, real, seriously knowledgeable, and very inspiring!
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I guess the only thing she and I haven't done lately is get an updated picture of the two of us together! I told you we go way back! Let's make that happen next time we have a shoot.

Thank you again, Kristina for always asking me to document the big and little moments, for sharing my work, for motivating me, and referring friends and family to me. Thank you for being patient over the years as I developed my own shooting and editing style, learned how to pose people, and how to smoothly run a business. You are a dream client but also a wind-beneath-my-wings bud and your unwavering support and friendship is truly a gift.
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Professional Happenings in 2019

1/15/2020

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I think  I'm not alone in saying that January is pretty much the worst, but on the bright side, we are out of it! Also, I'm probably the best and most productive version of myself. In an attempt to distract myself from the dark days and worst weather ever, I usually try my best to fill the time with decluttering, organizing, making plans for the new year, getting our taxes taken care of, and of course, reminiscing and reviewing the year that has just passed.

​Turns out 2019 was my biggest and best year yet when it comes to photography! This is far from everything (there were more than 100 family sessions alone!)  but here are some of the highlights:
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One of the first things I did at the beginning of 2019 was begin offering boudoir sessions. I created a separate website and Instagram account to showcase that side of my work. (All photos have been shared with client permission!)

What began as a "why not?" endeavor turned into a full on passion project and I'm thrilled to continue offering these  services into 2020 and beyond. 
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In the spring, a couple of my clients were awesomely laid back and flexible and allowed themselves to be part of a promo video shot for my photography business! It was intimidating to have actually video footage taken of me, but I'm so glad I actually bucked up and did it and have a nice snippet of who I am/what I do to easily share!
​YouTube video here: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyZCcNxBjng
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2019 was also one for ALL THE BABIES! I shot numerous newborn and fresh 48 sessions. Newborn photography used to be my area of apprehension and I was always too relieved to recommend a different photographer to those searching for a newborn photographer. That has definitely changed as I feel I've improved technically and have developed a style for these shoots that I have confidence in.
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One of my mini session offerings that is a hit every year was Mommy & Me minis. This year I held them at Lake Elmo and I'm thrilled with how each of the images turned out. Only 3 more months until we can do these again!
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In the summer I also hosted a beginner's photography workshop at my house for some lovely and talented ladies. This idea had been on my heart for a long time and I'm so glad it finally got brought to life! I held a secondary workshop in October and will be planning these again in 2020!
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I held two different rounds of fall mini  sessions. The first was outdoors in October at Tamarack Nature Center in White Bear Lake. It rained on and off that morning, but all who signed up showed up and ended up with a lot of lovely photos!
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For those who preferred not to gamble with the weather, I also held indoor mini sessions at Studio 130 in November. In addition to family sessions, I also shot a couple headshot sessions there too. I'll definitely be booking time here again, so if you like the idea of a fuss-free indoor shoot, lemme know!
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One of my favorite parts of this year was just connecting with other photographers. I was able to attend various social nights, skill shares, and shoot & shares (aka, headshot swaps). It's been one of the most valuable things to find support in the industry and I am kicking myself hard for waiting so long to find a network!
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Above are photos from each of the seven weddings I shot this year. Every couple, every venue, every wedding was completely different (and I'll share more from all of these soon), but the common thread through all of these were that these couples were all crazy in love, just wanted their friends and family to have a great time, and they were delightfully low-key when it came to photos... a whole lot of "we trust you!" which was music to my ears!
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Thanks for visiting my 2019 highlight reel. I don't have a highlight reel from 2020 yet as it's just been REAL so far with the day-to-day newborn life. But I've just been feeling the right amount of stir-crazy and inspired to start getting projects started and shoots booked for the new year. If you've been following me along, what are you interested in? A photography workshop? Family pics? A boudoir sesh? Tell me, tell me! I'd LOVE to know!

Thanks again to all my friends, family, and clients who made last year so big and special! Let's do it again!

xoxo,

​rachel

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2019 in Professional Photos

1/8/2020

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Hi, hi, hi! I've pulled myself off the sofa, put that baby down for a nap, and am excited to dig into blogging again after a big ol' break. I knew I would be pulling back from blogging regularly this fall/winter due to the high volume of sessions and weddings followed by our baby's arrival. But I'm glad to carve out some time to start recapping life and work again!

Anyway, this was a far more fantastic year I could have dreamed of. And when fantastic things are happening, you really ought to have pictures of it. Fortunately, one of the perks of being a photographer is knowing other photographers who happen to be mighty talented. This year our family got professionally photographed various times, in very different ways, by some very exceptional photographers. Let me share! (Above headshot from this summer is by Scherer Photo Co.!)
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Last winter I got bitten by the boudoir photography bug and started offering boudoir sessions. THEY WERE SO FUN! Fun enough that I was inspired by all of my beautiful clients to have my own boudoir photos taken which I did by Britt of Render Photography. I literally had the time of my life getting my hair and makeup done and then getting to roll around the dreamiest studio all scantily clad. Britt made me feel so very comfortable and dangerously confident, I have to say. Best of all, I declared this experience as "educational" because I felt that by putting myself in my clients' shoes, I would be able to better serve all my boudoir babes.
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As life would have it, Joe and I found out we were expecting our fourth baby in the spring. After experiencing a miscarriage in the fall of 2018, we were thrilled. My friend Rachel ended up taking some photos for us just around our 9 year wedding anniversary and we were able to squeeze in some pregnancy announcement pics into the session too. These are probably my favorite photos of Joe and myself that we've ever had taken.
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You're probably all like "Rachel, could things get more magical?" To which I respond "Hold my beer." In the summer my friend Jenessa of Scherer Photo Co. offered unicorn mini sessions with Sparky the unicorn and how could I NOT sign my family up for those? Of course it was hot outside and my kids were totally expired after having attended a birthday party earlier that day and were being rascals during the shoot. But that's how magical Jenessa is. She still managed a bunch of adorable photos even with my kids in surly moods. I bow down to your talents, girl! And of course when my kids were all done, I'm like "Outta my way! My turn for pics with Sparky!" And I regret nothing.
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Can't stop, won't stop. We also obviously needed fresh photos in October for our holiday card and updated photos of our kids NOT taken by me. Enter McKenzie of KNZ Photography who managed to make us look all normal and delightful. You can't even tell that I'm alternating between yelling idle threats and also bribes in the form of McDonald's happy meals in order to get these kids to freakin' smile (and not look like lunatics). At this point I was about 30 some weeks pregnant and in the middle of my own busy season. My feet hurt, my belly was bursting, and I was not feeling like a babe most days, but I still love these preggo pics of myself and I'm so, so glad we made this session happen.
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To finish off our year (and complete our family), we had our baby's birth documented by Brianna of Brianna Lane Photography. (SHE IS OUTSTANDING) Our boy's arrival was a little wild, but he was born healthy, alert, and beautiful. Archer's whole birth story and more photos is on my personal blog if you want to read about it. I will forever be grateful to Brianna for doing such a phenomenal job of capturing one of the most important days of our lives.

Yes, I know. So many photos. So many fake eyelashes. At this point you're probably glad you aren't married to me (or one of my kids) as you can see how many photo sessions I subject my loved ones to. But I think eventually they'll be glad that I was hyper vigilant about recording our lives. Because from my experience, I have to say that life goes by pretty fast and those teeny, wrinkly babies become big kids practically overnight, those first dates turn into 15 years together in a blink of an eye, and everything changes constantly whether you want it to or not.

SO. At this point I am still on leave but will be back to shooting next month. In the meantime, I'm hoping to get all my ducks in a row for 2020 and catch up on 2019 session recaps.

Thank you to for reading, for caring, for hiring me, and for supporting me this past year! So much love to you all in 2020!

​Rachel
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    Welcome to my photography blog!

    Rachel again! Here's where you'll be able to find blog posts about all things photography: recent sessions, upcoming events, and just fun musings on photography in general. Can't wait to fill 'er up with content!

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